ABSTRACT
George Bush, the last World War II-era president, used his tenure to buy time. He studiously avoided the many difficult adjustments the new era would require. To meet the challenges of a new era, bold departures from past policies would be required. Aggressive nationalism, and the demagogues that frequently exploited it, thus represented a serious security challenge in the post-Cold War world—with the former Yugoslavia the most pressing case. Bush sought a way out by loosening restrictions on regional and international trade, bequeathing to his successor the chronically stalled world trade talks under the auspices of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and a framework treaty for a North American Free Trade Agreement. The failure of the Napoleonic campaigns pre "The end of the Cold War and the Reagan-Bush era has opened up enormous opportunities at the international and national levels.".
